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Science 3 December 2004:
Vol. 306. no. 5702, pp. 1703 - 1709
DOI: 10.1126/science.1105245
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Research Articles

Pancam Multispectral Imaging Results from the Opportunity Rover at Meridiani Planum

J. F. Bell, III,1* S. W. Squyres,1 R. E. Arvidson,2 H. M. Arneson,1 D. Bass,3 W. Calvin,4 W. H. Farrand,5 W. Goetz,6 M. Golombek,3 R. Greeley,7 J. Grotzinger,8 E. Guinness,2 A. G. Hayes,1 M. Y. H. Hubbard,1 K. E. Herkenhoff,9 M. J. Johnson,1 J. R. Johnson,9 J. Joseph,1 K. M. Kinch,10 M. T. Lemmon,11 R. Li,12 M. B. Madsen,6 J. N. Maki,3 M. Malin,13 E. McCartney,1 S. McLennan,14 H. Y. McSween, Jr.,15 D. W. Ming,16 R. V. Morris,16 E. Z. Noe Dobrea,1 T. J. Parker,3 J. Proton,1 J. W. Rice, Jr.,7 F. Seelos,2 J. M. Soderblom,1 L. A. Soderblom,9 J. N. Sohl-Dickstein,1 R. J. Sullivan,1 C. M. Weitz,17 M. J. Wolff5

Panoramic Camera (Pancam) images from Meridiani Planum reveal a low-albedo, generally flat, and relatively rock-free surface. Within and around impact craters and fractures, laminated outcrop rocks with higher albedo are observed. Fine-grained materials include dark sand, bright ferric iron–rich dust, angular rock clasts, and millimeter-size spheroidal granules that are eroding out of the laminated rocks. Spectra of sand, clasts, and one dark plains rock are consistent with mafic silicates such as pyroxene and olivine. Spectra of both the spherules and the laminated outcrop materials indicate the presence of crystalline ferric oxides or oxyhydroxides. Atmospheric observations show a steady decline in dust opacity during the mission. Astronomical observations captured solar transits by Phobos and Deimos and time-lapse observations of sunsets.

1 Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca NY 14853, USA.
2 Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA.
3 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA.
4 Department of Geological Sciences, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89501, USA.
5 Space Science Institute, Boulder, CO 80301, USA.
6 University of Copenhagen, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark.
7 Department of Geological Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA.
8 Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
9 U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA.
10 Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark.
11 Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA.
12 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Geodetic Science, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
13 Malin Space Science Systems Inc., San Diego, CA 92191, USA.
14 Department of Geosciences, State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA.
15 Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA.
16 NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058, USA.
17 Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jfb8{at}cornell.edu

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)